HMS Sutherland (F81)

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Career (UK)
HMS Sutherland at Dartmouth, September 2007
Name:	HMS Sutherland (F81)
Operator:	Royal Navy
Ordered:	January 1992
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down:	14 October 1993
Launched:	9 March 1996
Sponsored by:	Lady Christina Walmsley
Commissioned:	4 July 1997
Motto:	Sans peur "Without fear"
Fate:	Active in service as of 2008
General characteristics
Class and type:	'Duke'-class Type 23 frigate
Displacement:	3,500 tonnes
Length:	436 ft 4 in (133.0 m)
Beam:	52 ft 10 in (16.1 m)
Draught:	23 ft 11 in (7.3 m)
Propulsion:	CODLAG (Combined Diesel-eLectric And Gas) 2 × Rolls-Royce Spey boost gas-turbines 4 × Paxman Valenta diesel engines 2 × GEC electric motors
Speed:	28 knots (52 km/h) 15 knots (28 km/h) on diesel-electric
Range:	7,800 nautical miles (14,400 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:	186 (18 officers)
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar 996 (3-D surveillance) Radar 1007/1008 (navigation) Radar 1010/1011 (target identification) Sonar 2050 UAT Electronic Warfare System (passive surveillance) General Purpose Electro-Optical Director for gun control
Armament:	2 × ASuW Harpoon quad launchers Vertical launch system Sea Wolf missiles 1 × BAE 4.5 inch (110 mm) Mk 8 gun 2 × Oerlikon 30 mm guns 4 × Sting Ray torpedo tubes Seagnat and DFL3 decoy launchers
Aircraft carried:	1 × Lynx HMA8 helicopter

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Sutherland.

HMS Sutherland (F81) is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy. She is the thirteenth ship in the Duke class of frigates and is the third ship to bear the name, more than 200 years since the name was last used.

She was launched in 1996 by Lady Christina Walmsley, wife of Sir Robert Walmsley KCB. Before this occasion, Royal Navy ships had always been launched with a bottle of champagne, but Lady Walmsley broke with tradition and used a bottle of Macallan Whiskey.^[1]

She was deployed to the Falkland Islands in the winter 1988/1989. In 2000, she was part of the task force NTG2000, the first time Royal Navy ships have circumnavigated the globe since 1986.^[2] In December 2007, major upgrades worth ₤35 million were announced. This makes HMS Sutherland the most powerful frigate in the fleet.^[3]

There is a keen golfing community on-board, and the crew sometimes use the facilities of their affiliate golf course in the Royal Burgh of Dornoch.^[4]

[edit] Affiliations

The Highlanders, 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland
No. 201 Squadron RAF
County of Sutherland
Honourable Company of Master Mariners
Sherborne School
Clifton College, Bristol CCF's
TS Grenville, Paisley
TS Duchess, Biggleswade
The Royal Dornoch Golf Club

[edit] References

[edit] Gallery

HMS Sutherland approaching Dartmouth, September 2007

HMS Sutherland at Newcastle upon Tyne, September 2004

v • d • e Type 23 frigate

Norfolk · Argyll · Lancaster · Marlborough · Iron Duke · Monmouth · Montrose · Westminster · Northumberland · Richmond · Somerset · Grafton · *Sutherland* · Kent · Portland · St Albans

List of frigates of the Royal Navy